Kat and Dick

Here are three sketch options I've offered to Kat and Dick for their portrait commission.

"Roman"

"Roman", detail from a 40 minute pose, carbon pencil, white charcoal and white pastel on  Canson Mi-Teintes paper

I'll be posting two new portraits soon which I've been working on over the last month, but meanwhile, Wednesday evening SVA Alumni drawing sessions have happily resumed after the holiday break, and will continue through mid-April.  Here is my effort to capture Roman.  

"Yves"

detail from "Yves", carbon pencil, charcoal and white pastel on gray paper

"Yves", 18" x 18"

"Yves Hands", carbon pencil on newsprint

Professional dancer, Yves, was our kind model for this week's Wednesday evening drawing session.  He hails from a city in France which is a complex of small villages known as Marseille.  The first drawing was from a 40 minute pose, and the hand study was 20 minutes.  As with "Carolina", I embellished both drawings further from memory after 

the live session.  Merci,Yves!  

"Carolina"

"Carolina", 9" x 12", detail from a 50 minute pose

My portrait of Carolina, a beautiful model and professional dancer who posed for SVA alumni at this week's Wednesday evening drawing session.  I spent another half hour or so at home, strengthening the values of this study.

Progress on My Spiritual Portrait Series

"Amma's Devi Bhava in Kimberly", in progress, 19 1/2" x 15 1/4", egg tempera on panel

Here, you can see some changes I am making to the leaves in the lower right corner of the painting, and a gold sash I'm adding.  After some consideration, I also decided to remove the shadow from the right side of the painting in order to open up the space more and I hope it will help me deepen the picture plane as I attempt to show the petals going back in space by varying the size of some of them, showing them smaller and further behind her.  Some of the petals have been redone, in one instance on the right-hand side, three times, in order to get a feeling going that I have been aiming for, and I think it is there, but more petals are still needed for the feeling of a 'petal shower'.

There are many mysteries to Amma's Devi Bhava flower petal blessing, and having experienced it for myself, I wish I understood it more deeply on a metaphysical level, but physically, it is a 'shower' of flower petals, from all of the flowers Amma has received in three days of darshan, so perhaps you can just imagine how wonderful it feels.  In this instance I have portrayed Kimberly with a rose petal shower for several specific reasons, and you can read more about this in my latest post on Grander Joy of Spirit

Benjamin

"Benjamin", 15 minute pose, charcoal pencil

We had another great model at the SVA alumni drawing practice session this week, and his name is Benjamin.

from Wednesday evening live model drawing sessions at SVA

Drawn from a live model at the SVA alumni Wed. evening drawing sessions

An important part of portraiture for me is honing my skill with figure drawing from a live model, and as an alumni of the School of Visual Arts, I have been enjoying the free Wednesday evening drawing sessions they provide to all SVA alumni.  Student RA Shane has been coordinated these sessions, providing us with professional models who traditionally pose nude.
  
Nude poses help artists enormously to understand correct anatomy as it appears in various dynamics of the human figure.  The timed poses warm us up, and vary from several minutes to one 40 minute pose within each session.  The above is a detail from a 20 minute pose from last Wednesday's gathering.  Shane and the models have been great, I enjoy the camraderie, and I hope to see more of my fellow alumni and SVA buddies taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Shifting the Light - More progress on the pastel of Sandra

photo of "Sandra" still in progress, pastel on La Carte pastelboard

 A scanned detail of the pastel in progress

I'm still working on shifting the light source on this pastel portrait of Sandra, so for a progress report, here are some views of it at it's current stage.

Victorian Nostalgia Portrait

"Four Sisters At Bloomingdales," (detail) from a 12" x 15" egg tempera portrait

If anyone out there has a favorite old photograph of family members or relatives, I love painting nostalgia portraits too, and the Victorian era is one of my favorite times to paint. I've even "adopted" a few relatives, as I love to collect vintage and antique photos.  One of my rare finds was a photo which was actually taken in Bloomingdales department store professional photo studio (it bore the 'Bloomingdales seal') around the turn of the last century, and I could not resist painting this scene.  Although it's an older painting of mine, done circa 1984, it still remains a personal favorite.

A scanned peek at Kimberly With Roses in progress

A scanned detail from a portion of my egg tempera spiritual portrait in progress of Kimberly with roses, egg tempera on true gesso panel

It's been almost a year since I've offered the last update on this painting on Mona Conner Portraits, but I've actually been slowly progressing with this egg tempera portrait of Kimberly over at my spiritual portrait series blog, Grander Joy of Spirit.  Large egg tempera portraits on panel do take a lot of time and patience, but are rewarding for their depth, and I thought it would be interesting to share this scanned detail, since recently I was discussing the differences in quality between a scan and a camera shot of my pastel self-portrait at age 3.  My own scanner bed is small, so it only captures about 12" x 9" from this 19 1/2" x 15 1/4" painting in progress, but it reveals to you the paint strokes, details, and depth, much better than a camera shot with my 5 mg camera, which tends to flatten out the values.  It also reveals the areas that I am still blending with many thin layers of egg tempera.

pastel of Sandra

"Sandra", pastel in progress on La Carte pastel board

Here is a detail from a pastel portrait of Sandy I've had on the side and am working on again.

Completed Value Study of Peggy and Marcelo

"Portrait Study of Peggy and Marcelo", 21" x 25 1/2", charcoal and pastel on acid-free gray matt board

detail of Peggy from the study, 21" x  15"

Here is the completed version of my first study for a couples portrait of my sister, Peggy, and brother-in-law, Marcelo.

Self Portrait at Three, completed

A scanned detail from "Self Portrait at Three"

Photo of "Self Portrait at Three", 24" x 19", pastel on Pastelmat *

It was fun to get back into this pastel portrait of myself at age three and add it's final touches.

*Sometimes a scan can really do better in matching the color, value, and depth in a work of art, so after trying a scanned detail, I've added it to the top of this post, and I'll replace this photo too, as soon as I have a scan of the full image to share.  

Princess Kate #2, silverpoint with egg tempera

"Princess Kate 2", 3 7/8" x 3 1/8", framed silverpoint miniature on toned museum board with egg tempera highlights, available on Etsy

Here is the second in my series of portrayals of Princess Catherine, this time on a pink-toned background with highlights and light touches in egg tempera.  I'll add a picture of this one in it's frame later today, which is the same style and color as the frame for Princess Kate 1.

Princess Kate - One of Several Portrayals of Her in Silverpoint

"Princess Kate", (shown actual size), 3 7/8" x 3 1/8", silverpoint miniature portrait on prepared museum board in antiqued silver gilded wood oval

Here is the first of several portrayals of Princess Kate I have been working on this week.  This silverpoint miniature portrait is currently for sale on Etsy.  Stay tuned for another portrait of Princess Kate which I hope to post tomorrow.

Congrats to HRH Kate on Her Special Day!

preliminary drawing for a silverpoint miniature portrait of Kate Middleton, who today becomes Her Royal Highness

In just a matter of hours, Kate Middleton will become HRH Princess Catherine! I am so excited about the Royal wedding, so I want to try a portrait of Kate. I'm already trying to picture what she may wear, and I can't wait to see her wedding gown today, -- can you?! I've read that her dress includes a nod to Princess Diana, and will be inspired by fashions from the Renaissance period. One of her jackets is a bit reminiscent of the Renaissance without the under blouse, so I've sketched that in. I thought she might wear her hair partly up and partly down. Here is a preliminary pencil drawing for a silverpoint portrait, and depending upon whether I want to include a bit of wedding apparel, this may change later today, but first I must stop to watch this historic and happy occasion. Congratulations to Kate and William!

Progress update on my portrait of Nelson Mandela

My portrait of Nelson Mandela in progress

I've been back at work on my portrait of Nelson Mandela, which is still in progress, but here is a detail from it that you can enjoy.  I'm portraying him shortly after his release from prison, when he honored New York City with a triumphant visit.  A small detail reflecting this is the gold apple pin worn on his lapel, which symbolizes the "Big Apple."

Value Study for a Couple's Portrait

value study in progress for a portrait of Peggy and Marcelo, charcoal & pastel,
done on one-half of a 26" x 20" warm grey acid-free paperboard

 I thought it would be interesting to share some of the various steps I use when preparing for a portrait commission.  I don't do all of these steps each time, but to demonstrate the possibilities, I'm working on several versions of this one, which my sister, Peggy, has commissioned of her and my brother-in-law, Marcelo.  This first version is based on the initial photo I took of them, and doing it in black and white allows me to explore the range of light to dark which is a key component I want to emerge in the finished painting.

Next is my sister, so stay tuned for the rest of this value study, and soon I hope to also post my self-portrait at age 3.

Completed Miniature Portrait of Marcia and Harry

"Marcia and Harry", 3 7//8" x 3", egg tempera on gessoed panel

Here is the main reference picture I used for this portrait (eliminating myself, and adding behind them the window view from the opposite corner of the restaurant.)

Here is the final version of the miniature portrait of Marcia and Harry.  I replaced my original scan with a better one, after also making a few tiny changes to the far right.  You will notice in both this instance and in the self-portrait in progress at age 3, that "rim lighting" illuminates the faces around the edges and with reflected light, giving them a soft glow.

Self-Portrait, Age 3, More Progress

"Self Portrait, Age 3" in progress, 19 1/2" x 23 1/2", pastel on Pastelmat

I'm making a bit of progress on the nuances of the facial features and starting to block in the pants and lower portions, so here's another update.  Still struggling a bit with this new surface, but I may try a little workable spray fix to see if it helps me refine things further.

Pastel in Progress - Self Portrait, Age 3

"Self Portrait, Age 3" in progress, 19 1/2" x 23 1/2", pastel on Pastelmat

I'll get back to a final post of my dual portrait soon, but last week I also started this pastel of myself at age 3, from a picture taken by the water in Long Beach, CA.  I am using Pastelmat for the first time, and in working on this I discovered it holds pastel very nicely, but also maxes out it's holding capacity sooner than I anticipated.  I'm going to see where it takes me on this surface, and if I'm not satisfied, I may try another pastel surface, or possibly try it in egg tempera and oil.

A Dual Miniature Portrait in Progress

"Marcia & Harry" (in progress), 3 7/8" x 3 1/2", egg tempera miniature portrait on true gesso panel

Several years ago after my father passed away, my Mom met Harry, and almost 2 years ago they were married.  To celebrate Harry's birthday (they have both recently turned 85 years young) and their wedding anniversary coming up in April, I'm working on this miniature portrait.  It portrays them standing in front of the picture windows of Asiate, a lovely restaurant at the top of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City which overlooks Central Park and Columbus Circle.  I had a lovely meal with them there when they came to NYC for their honeymoon.  I have a little more work to go on this one, so I'll post it once more upon it's completion. 

Commission a Pastel for your Holiday Gift

Christmas is almost upon us.  Pastel portraits take approximately two weeks 

or more to complete.  Have you commissioned your pastel gift yet?

November Update

Due to several things I'm developing offline this Fall, it's been a while since my last post, but rest assured, I welcome any portrait commission requests you may have.  Until my next portrait posts here, please also feel welcomed to check out my progress reports on "Kimberly With Roses", my spiritual portrait in egg tempera on Grander Joy of Spirit.

The Framed Self-Portrait

And here is the framing solution which I applied to this miniature painting,"Self Portrait at 34", a lovely gilded wood oval.

This self portrait will be included in an annual international miniature show in Florida.  If you are interested in purchasing it, or in receiving details about this show, please email me.

"Self Portrait at 34" Completed

"Self Portrait at 34", miniature portrait (shown @ actual size, 3 3/4" x 3") egg tempera on

Kelmscott vellum

Reference picture I took myself utilizing the self-timer on my camera, at age 34

Here is my completed self-portrait at age 34, and in this instance I thought it would be fun to show you my reference photo, since it is an old picture, although I'll leave it's actual age, vague.......... :-)

It was so much fun to go back in time with this self-portrait! The challenges I enjoyed in painting this entailed articulating the details of the rhinestone necklace at 1/6th of life size miniature scale, and also to see how well I could develop the values and colors from lightest lights to darkest darks, by using many thin translucent layers of alternating warm and cool colors glazed and scumbled on with egg tempera.

Miniature Self Portrait in Progress

"Self Portrait at 34" (in progress), egg tempera miniature painting on Kelmscott vellum

I'm really enjoying the challenge of working on this miniature portrait of myself when I was 34, painting it from my own photos which were taken with the self-timer on my camera back then.  I had fun posing in one of my all-time favorite wardrobe items, a black velvet cocktail dress.  This is shown approximately same-size as the art, so the tricky part will be to see if I can adequately articulate in paint at miniature portrait scale (1/6th of life size) the details of the rhinestone necklace I was wearing.  

Sandra

"Sandra", 22" x 19", pastel on La Carte pastel board (click the images twice to see them larger)

"Sandra" detail

I may tweak this a little more here and there for it's details, but here is the finished portrait of Sandra. 

Portrait of Sandra in Progress

"Sandra," 23" x 19", pastel in progress on brown La Carte pastel board

Here is a pastel I've started of my friend Sandy, who will also be posing later this year for my spiritual portrait series.  This is a practice portrait to help me acquaint myself with the planes her face, based on a casual picture taken by her husband, Dwight. 

A Word about my Spiritual Portrait Series and what's next

Some of you may have noticed that I blog according to several themes, and perhaps it's helpful to discuss why I prefer to separate my art into several blogs, and how sometimes these themes overlap.

Today I've posted another update for "Kimberly With Roses" on it's regular blog at this link: Grander Joy of Spirit, so if you'd like to follow my progress with this, "The 'Mary' in Kimberly", and other spiritually themed portraits, they will mainly continue to unfold there. While I may occasionally post an update here periodically on one of my spiritual portraits, with my spiritual portrait series in particular, which has continued for almost two years now, I am actually unfolding and at times discussing on-blog a personal theme through an ongoing body of work in portraiture for a gallery or museum show. So, I feel it is more meaningful in the long run to develop this theme in it's own context, and separately from this blog which is more about portraits and portrait commissions in general. I may, for example, get more into discussion of technical aspects of painting here on the portrait blog, whereas on Grander Joy of Spirit I'm attempting to zero in on the spiritual aspects and responses from viewers on this level.

So far, my spiritual portrait series has been done completely uncommissioned, and only with the cooperation of several interested friends who have willingly and kindly posed for me for this purpose. However, I am also quite open to the opportunity of creating a commissioned spiritual portrait if anyone desires one. I also have a miniature painting blog, where occasionally I do a portrait in miniature, and this is another source of overlap where I may sometimes post dually.

Right now I'm in the midst of preparing an artist grant application, just to help me to be able to continue with the spiritual portrait series, but as soon as it's finished I'll be posting something new here too.

Framing "Eve and Her Dog", and the story of my friendship with Eve

I promised to share more of my story with you about how I came to make the portrait "Eve and Her Dog", and here are several pictures I want to show you.  The first is a picture of me with my dear friend Eve Weiss, who is the subject pictured in "Eve and Her Dog".  Many thanks to Eve's daughter Ricky, and to her husband Roberto for their help with this surprise for Eve.

Eve and I

A detail of the moulding that my framer, San Art Frame Shop used to frame Eve's portrait.

Just the frame was the surprise in this instance, since Eve already knew about the drawing I was making of her with Stubby, and here is the picture that Ricky's husband, Roberto, took when we showed it to Eve.


The story of Eve and I really began before I was born, when Eve, her husband Gus, and my Dad were in the same study group together and became friends at NYU Law School.  I first met Eve, Gus, and their three children, Jonathan, Ricky, and Robin, when our family travelled to Flushing, NY to visit their family and see the New York World's Fair.  We had so much fun, both at the Fair, and with their family, and after I returned home, Eve contacted me to ask if I would make a painting of their family dog Brutus.  I was only twelve years old, and it was my first-ever portrait commission request!   Can you imagine how excited I was?  Not only that, but the oil painting of Brutus hung proudly in their home for many, many years.  So I made this drawing of Eve to thank her for inspiring me in this important way during the early years of my life's journey as an artist.

Working on Her Face, Hair, and Hand

(*August 11:  Just a little more progress, so I've added another copy of the image.)

(click image twice for a larger view)

"Kimberly With Roses," 19 1/2" x 15 1/4", egg tempera in progress on true gesso panel

Another look at the portrait after more work on the face, the hairline and portions of the hair.
In egg tempera painting, many thin translucent layers of paint in alternating warm and cool tones are juxtaposed to gradually solidify forms and build luminosity as it goes forth.

Working on the Veil

A detail from "Kimberly with Roses" (in progress) 19 1/2" x 15 1/4" egg tempera on true gesso panel (click the image twice for a larger view)

When I work on a medium or large egg tempera portrait I like to establish it a section at a time.  Later I'll go back and begin integrating and refining things more.  Right now the background is still unpainted, but that will come into it later too.  During the most recent painting sessions I focused most of my attention on the Indian wedding veil, particularly the large appliques with embroidery, beads, and sequins.

In Progress: Two Portraits of the Same Person

"The 'Mary' in Kimberly" (in progress) prior to the application of gold leaf and further work on the white veil.

Gold leaf will be applied to the background and sides of the arched panel over the dark red area.

(click each image twice to see a larger version)

Another portrait of Kimberly in progress, wearing an Indian wedding veil and holding roses.

Sometimes I like to paint a series of portraits of the same person utilizing a theme.  In this case, I'm working with a spiritual theme, trying to portray that quality of the divine as it expresses itself within and through Kimberly as a person.

For more details on the thinking behind this series and it's spiritual aspects, visit Grander Joy of Spirit.

"Kimberly with Roses," in Progress

"Kimberly with Roses," (in progress) 19 1/2" x 15 1/4", egg tempera on true gesso panel

I'm enjoying very much painting this portrait which includes both international and spiritual influences. I've begun it in egg tempera on a medium-sized panel.

Egg tempera is a wonderful medium for achieving fine detail and luminosity in portraiture, which can be used alone or in conjunction with oil paint. Egg tempera paint is made by mixing powdered pigments directly with egg yolk and distilled water. It has a long and interesting history, and prior to the invention of oil paint, was the single most popular medium for painting.

I'll share updates on this portrait as it progresses.

Completed Portrait of Eve and Her Dog

  "Eve and Her Dog," 15 1/2" x 21 1/2", charcoal and pastel on Arches Aquarelle paper (click the image to see it large)

Here is the completed portrait of Eve.  I did two preliminary drawings before getting to this final version, primarily because after sketching it out I realized I wanted to try it larger to improve the level of detail while still utilizing charcoal and pastel.  This drawing was inspired by a very small black and white photograph taken of Eve and her sweet dog, Stubby, on a black rooftop.


This is a nostalgia portrait of Eve in her youth, and memories can be very important to a portrait like this.  In the first sketch I had Eve on a white towel on the black roof as she was in the photo. When we talked a bit about her memories of this time, Eve said she always remembers the trees everywhere, and could I put trees into the background of whatever version I came up with. Then I suggested a beach scene with the trees, and she liked that too.  In this way both of our ideas combined and contributed to her portrait's final outcome.


(*additional note:  I've replaced the photo of the art in this post with a better record copy, and there is a little more background about this portrait I'd love to share, but it must wait a few weeks, since it's a surprise.)